2009 REVIEW: The year in health, environment

Thursday

Dec 31, 2009 at 12:01 AMDec 31, 2009 at 8:06 PM

It was a busy year for Marblehead’s Department of Public Health. After dealing with the unprecedented high levels of bacteria at the town’s beaches, which led to numerous closings during some of the hottest days of the summer, department officials then had to confront the H1N1 flu virus, which reached a crescendo this fall.

Nikki Gamer / ngamer@cnc.com

It was a busy year for Marblehead’s Department of Public Health. After dealing with the unprecedented high levels of bacteria at the town’s beaches, which led to numerous closings during some of the hottest days of the summer, department officials then had to confront the H1N1 flu virus, which reached a crescendo this fall.

In environmental happenings, local activist Christopher Swain began his swim to Washington, D.C., while the Marblehead Light Department was awarded an energy grant from the federal government that could very well revolutionize the way energy is consumed in town.

Bacteria at the beach

The year 2009 was the year of the beach closings. Both Devereux and Grace Oliver’s beaches were shut down for swimming more frequently than in most years past due to high levels of the enterococci bacteria. Meanwhile, some weeks those same beaches tested far below the state limit for the bacteria.

Director of Public Health Wayne Attridge, who has been conducting beach testing for 28 years, said he has never been so frustrated with such inconsistent results, blaming the inconsistencies mostly on the exceptionally stormy month of June.

According to the state Department of Public Health, “Swimming in polluted water can cause gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain, respiratory symptoms,” among other health problems.

Since the summer, however, Attridge has said the beaches have regained their normal counts.

“I’m pleased with the condition with the beaches,” he said recently.

Yet concerns still linger about storm water runoff, and he said he’s recently been working with Water & Sewer Superintendent Dana Snow on resolving that issue.

Meanwhile, he anticipates similar problems next summer should the weather mirror this past year.

In June, the World Health Organization declared the H1N1 flu virus a pandemic, setting off a worldwide public-health panic. In Marblehead, Department of Public Health officials immediately began consulting with state officials and distributing information to the public about the virus. Meanwhile, school officials prepared plans in case the virus was so widespread that the system had to shut down.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between April and November, an estimated 34 million to 67 million people became infected with the H1N1 virus in the United States. Based on those same estimates, it is believed that there have been about 7,000 to 14,000 deaths from the virus since the outbreak began. In Marblehead, there have been only a handful of reported cases of the virus, and no deaths have specifically been attributed to H1N1.

Meanwhile, Attridge said that when all is said and done, the town would receive $25,000 in federal grant money to continue to deal with the virus, as the department has since had to purchase additional storage units to house the vaccine, allocate more staff hours and pay for H1N1 vaccine clinic staffers.

According to Attridge, the hardest thing for the department to deal with in relation to the pandemic has been the continuous changing nature of the information coming down from the federal and state governments about vaccine availability, which has lead to much confusion in town.

“One of the issues from day one is that the federal and state governments have been pushing local boards of health to schedule clinics without the vaccine in hand,” an exasperated Attridge said. “People get very, very upset and mad, and take it out on us… We’re at the bottom of the food chain… My staff has taken so much heat from this.”

In the future, Attridge said his department would only schedule flu clinics if he knows he has the vaccine on hand.

“The Mass. Department of Public Health has had us chasing our tails for the last two-and-a-half months, and I’m not happy about it,” he said. “They’ve put our neck in the noose too many times this fall.”

Yet at this time, the town has been able to offer H1N1 vaccination clinics to all of its priority groups. Attridge expects to be able to offer vaccination to everyone after the first of the year.

As for possible predictions about the prevalence of the virus in the future, Attridge said he anticipates another wave of H1N1 sometime during the winter, or possibly even into the springtime months.

“People should remain very vigilant,” he warned. “Do what you need to do to keep yourselves out of harm’s way.”

Trash talk

In a June special election, Marblehead voters approved a $505,000 Proposition 2 1/2 override for remediation work related to Stonybrook Road. Administered by the Board of Health, the funds were used for assessments ordered by the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, which required borings to be drilled underneath five private properties this fall to see if burned ash material, which could contain lead, existed under those properties, and to what extent it was there.

Attridge said most of those preliminary results are in; at least three of the properties are testing positive for that material.

“Some waste issues on private property has been confirmed… We do have some issues there,” he said.

At the moment, the town has entered into discussions with those property owners as to what comes next.

“We’ve pretty much laid our cards on the table as to what the town envisions for that area,” Attridge said. “Most of this will be somewhat negotiated.”

He added that the DEP would be conducting further tests to confirm the initial results, but said that none of what was found is believed to be an imminent public health hazard.

“I feel comfort in that,” he said. “That was what everyone was holding their breath over, me included.”

As for the long-awaited transfer-station project, which includes plans for the capping and the remediation of the area, deconstruction and construction of a new transfer station, recycling facility, and yard waste processing area, the Board of Health will be forming a building oversight committee in January to push the project toward a vote at May Town Meeting.

Attridge expects the plans to be presented to neighbors and numerous town boards, including the Board of Selectmen, in the coming months. The Town Meeting warrant article would let voters decide whether or not to allocate construction money for the project.

“Originally we looked at stimulus money but we were not ‘shovel-ready,’” Attridge said. He added that he is confident the project will be ready for a spring vote.

At the end of October, the Marblehead Light Department was awarded $1.4 million in federal stimulus money to put toward its $2.7 million project to update its energy grid as well as switch over the town’s 10,000 meters to smart meters.

General Manager Bob Jolly called the grant a “big deal.”

The end result could promote energy saving choices for consumers and increase energy efficiency in the town of Marblehead.

The smart meters will allow each customer the ability to view his or her energy usage in real time through the Web. The department also plans to begin a pilot program to test out new pricing structures geared at making consumers more aware and ultimately consume less during peak energy times.

In October, Jolly said he expected to begin installing smart meters in the spring.

“There is going to be a lot of work ahead,” Jolly said.

Phil Sweeney, who is a member of the Municipal Light Commission, said that since the announcement came in, Jolly has been to Washington to attend a seminar on implementing the plans, although doing so is already requiring an enormous amount of paperwork.

“They ask for a lot of information,” Sweeney noted, adding that the department doesn’t get reimbursed until it submits invoices to the federal government. He added that the paperwork part is taking longer than expected, although as soon as it is complete, he expects the project will proceed immediately into the planning phase.

According to Sweeney, the entire energy project should take about two years.

“It’s not something you just run out and just start plopping meters down,” Sweeney explained. “But we’re glad to have the money. In the long run, it will be a big benefit to the rate payers in town.”

Fair firsts

This year, the town of Marblehead held two fairs for the first time ever.

In April, numerous town organizations including the League of Women Voters and Marblehead Bank teamed up to organize the “Marblehead Go Green” fair relating to environmental endeavors. The event included a town-wide Energy Saving Contest that produced a handful of winners who came up with ideas for environmental conservation such as increasing the number of recycling bins at public locales.

“It was a great success,” said Kathy Leonardson of the League of Women Voters. “People loved it.”

She expects the event will be held every other year.

Meanwhile, the town’s Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with the Lynch-van Otterloo YMCA, put together its first Health & Wellness Fair in October, which comprised dozens of wellness groups and included health-related giveaways.

According to organizers, the fair was a success and will be back next year.

Swim for environmental change

Earlier this year, in front of an audience of dozens of well-wishers, environmental activist and Marblehead resident Christopher Swain plunged off the pier near the Landing Restaurant and began his “Swim for a Healthy World,” a 1,000-mile journey that will take him down the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to Washington, D.C.

His intention is to raise awareness about environmental issues.

During his swims, he is sampling the water at over 5,000 locations along his route to measure and map the effects of pollution and climate change. He is also making stops at schools to work with students on projects designed to improve the health of the ocean and the planet.

However, due to an unexpected back injury in the summer, Swain recently said he’s not as far along in his journey as he thought he’d be at this point, although things have been improving as of late.

“I am recovering well and plan to swim straight through the winter,” he stated in an e-mail. “I even swam in 32.4-degree water during last Sunday’s blizzard.”

He hopes to conclude his swim in less than two years. So far, he’s covered a little more than 100 miles during 40 days in the water, made presentations to thousands of students at East Coast schools, and reached over 50,000 people through social media like Twitter and Facebook. He said he’s also recycled over 100,000 pounds of used electronics, and has been a feature subject for national news outlets like NPR and the Associated Press.